Coastal security: Bangladeshi vessels ‘cause for concern’

Kolkata: The movement of Bangladeshi vessels in the Sundarbans delta off the Bay of Bengal has remained a “concern” for the coastal security mechanism in the eastern parts of the country.

To tackle the challenge, the Indian Navy has asked other security agencies to follow protocol route for monitoring the vessels from the neighbouringcountry in the Indian waters.

“We have been requesting all the agencies that they should follow the protocol route. That is the only the route we can actually monitor. You will not be able to know if any other route is followed. There is an issue of concern. I am sure the agencies concerned are putting in effort to tackle this,” naval officer in charge (West Bengal) Commodore Suprobho K. De told this newspaper on Sunday on the movement of Bangladeshi vessels.

He elaborated, “It has to be a collective effort. The Navy is getting involved as it is the maritime riverine border. The Border Security Force is also there. But since the Navy is the overall in charge of the coastal security. mutual understanding is beneficial.”

On the security threat in the delta, Cmde De pointed out that the riverine boundary is “very porus”.

He added, “The chance of a boat coming through the sea and getting detected is higher than if it comes through creeks.  There are so many places where people can make crossovers. So this has to be a joint effort by the police, marine, border security force and customs.  “It is our endeavour to interact with all the agencies.”

Commodore Suprobho K. De was speaking after flagging in Matla Abhiyaan, a five-day-long coastal security exercise by a 20-member navy team led by Captain Joydeep Chakraborty in two boats from Kolkata to Sundarban delta, at Man Of War Jetty in the river Hooghly in the city.